Make Nine 2023: Sewing My Dream Vintage Wardrobe

This McCall’s pattern is one that my aunt gave to me from her own pattern stash, and it was printed in 1978. The pattern is uncut and still folded in the envelope, so I’m really looking forward to tracing this out and sewing it. I’m planning on making the knee-length dress with this marigold print crepe de chine from Fabric Wholesale Direct. This pattern also calls for a trim around the bust of the dress, which I still have to find. Once I adjust the pattern to better fit me, I’m also considering turning a pink floral linen skirt I found at Goodwill into the blouse design of this pattern. We’ll see if I have enough fabric for it.

I bought this patchwork rayon print in late 2019 for a dress, but I realized that this fabric would be perfect for palazzo pants. This print with this wide-leg pants style would make a great pair of 1970s-inspired pants. I’m using Simplicity 1069 as the pattern.

I bought this 1970s vintage pattern just for the halter-top jumpsuit. This style of jumpsuit is something I’ve always wanted in my closet, and I’m excited to repurpose this crinkle polyester fabric from Fabric Wholesale Direct (originally bought for a wrap dress pattern in 2019 before realizing it was a lot of teal) for this pattern. I’m thinking of sewing this with a contrasting or complimentary color thread to lean into the 70s style, and perhaps add a daisy trim along the neckline or bottom of each pants leg. We’ll see!

I bought this 1974 Betsey Johnson pattern along with the halter top jumpsuit pattern about a month ago. I’ve been a fan of Betsey Johnson’s style since I was a teen, and fell in love with this swing coat design as I was looking at 1970s patterns on Pinterest. I didn’t think that the original pattern existed anymore, but after I was prompted to check Etsy I was surprised to find a complete, unused original pattern for sale. It’s definitely the most expensive pattern I’ve ever bought, but I rarely get that lucky. The only downside is that the size of the pattern is two sizes bigger around the bust, so I’ll definitely have to make a mock up for this. I’m using this patchwork super snuggle flannel fabric and sage satin fabric I recently purchased at Jo-Ann’s to make a light version of the short coat. I’m looking forward to using this fabric to figure out the pattern adjustments and get a feel for the pattern instructions. Once I have the pattern adjusted with this short coat, I would love to make a wool coat with the longer coat style. I have my eye on some lovely wool coating fabric from Mood that I’m planning on saving up for.

After adjusting McCall’s M8255 to make my Star Wars print tank top, I would love to make the short-sleeve style with this flower embroidered tulle from Jo-Ann’s. I bought this fabric with plans to incorporate it into an original character design earlier this year. Despite those plans falling through, I was able to match this tulle with a hunter green poly twill I bought last year at Fabric Wholesale Direct with plans to turn that into a beautiful floral blouse. I hope to have enough of this to cover the whole blouse, but, if not, I think this tulle would also look good either just over the body or sleeves of the blouse.

This beautiful heavyweight indigo linen fabric from fabrics-store.com is also part of the “projects that fell through” fabric stash. I think this fabric is a good weight and drape for this pleated wrap skirt (Simplicity 8746), and I’m excited to finally turn this high-quality linen into something I plan to wear pretty frequently!

After making the palazzo pants, I hope to have enough of the patchwork rayon left over to combine it with this silk(?) purple fabric I found at Goodwill months ago to create the long sleeve patchwork blouse design in the center of McCal’s M7572. Once I perfect the fit with this blouse, I would love to use the short sleeve designs of this pattern with leftover knit fabric I have.